NOTTINGHAM, UK: An independent survey launched today by HR, payroll and talent management solutions provider, MidlandHR, has found that despite the vast majority of organisations agreeing that employee engagement affects employee retention and overall organisational performance, almost half (49 percent) don't understand the level of engagement of employees or indeed how to actually engage them (42 percent). Astonishingly, nearly two in five (38 percent) organisations don't recognise the importance of assessing employee opinion.

The study, Investigating Employee Engagement and Predictive Analytics, surveyed the opinions of over 100 business leaders in UK public, private and charity sectors.

Despite agreeing that employee engagement affects organisational performance, the research found that nearly one in four (24 percent) organisations do not conduct employee engagement surveys of any kind. Of the organisations that do, online surveys are most popular (49 percent).

Over three quarters (76 percent) of organisations believe employees answer online surveys more honestly if their responses are anonymous, while just over half (51 percent) are happy for information they provide to be used to improve employee engagement.

Commenting on the research, MidlandHR's research director, Dr Leslie Bowie, says: "Regular engagement surveys are vital to managing employee performance and should be part of every organisation's performance strategy. Employee engagement surveys – when used in the right way – can promote company-wide well being in terms of ensuring job satisfaction for every employee while the organisation gets the best performance from employees and exceeds the bottom line. However, only one in four (23 percent) organisations conduct employee engagement surveys yearly, while just over a tenth (14 percent) does so every two years. Only 8 percent of organisations conduct engagement surveys every six months."

Relationships with line managers and colleagues and recognition of achievement were the top three contributors respectively to employees feeling engaged, while good pay and flexible benefits proved to be the least influential contributors to employee engagement.

Dr Bowie continues: "While it's encouraging that over half (56 percent) of organisations' HR processes are system driven and focus on driving strategic workforce decisions (37 percent) and efficiency (19 percent), a large number of organisations are losing out on leveraging HR technology to drive employee performance.